the tri-state warbird museum welcomes the fw-190
TRANSCRIPT
Tri-State Warbird Museum
4021 Borman Drive
Batavia, Ohio 45103
513.735.4500
513.735.4333 fax
www.tri-statewarbirdmuseum.org
The Tri-State Warbird Museum...a historic aviation museum dedicated to remembering those who fought for our freedom, and honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The Tri-State Warbird Museum Welcomes the Fw-190 spring 2008 Volume 2 Number 1
Photography and article repro-duction restricted without per-mission. ©2008 Tri-State War-bird Museum
Hours:
Wednesday 4pm-7pm
Saturday 10am-3pm
Admission $12
Discounts available for veterans and students
Annual and lifetime individ-ual and family member-ships are available
Donations are needed and are most appreciated - Thank you!
Walk of Veterans Bricks
The Tri-State Warbird Museum is a very grateful recipient of this amazing Focke-Wulf Fw-190 as it was delivered to our museum on December 7, 2007 straight from Germany. The Fw-190 is widely regarded as Germany’s best single engine fighter of World War II. Comparable to the American P-51D Mustang and British Spitfire MkIX, the Fw-190 entered service with the Luftwaffe in 1941 and operated continuously through several production variants until the end of the war. The Fw-190 was the work of a team of German designers under the direction of Chief Designer Kurt Tank and was specified as a supplement to the Messerschmidt Me-109, then the only sin-gle engine German front line fighter. Powered by a BMW 801 14 cylinder, twin-row air cooled radial engine producing 1700 horsepower the Fw-190 could reach speeds of over 400 mph with a service ceiling of 37,000 feet and a range of 550 miles. Pro-duction versions were equipped with 4 wing mounted 20mm cannon and two 13mm machine guns firing through the propeller. Later versions used two 20mm and two 30mm cannons and a limited number were equipped as “tank killers” with a down-ward firing 75mm cannon mounted in the left wing.
The Fw-190 on display at the Tri-State Warbird Museum was restored by Flug Werks in Munich, Germany and is on loan to the museum by Dr. Thomas Summer of Lafay-ette, Indiana. Dr. Summer spent over 4 years supervising the restoration work on this Fw-190 which has been painted to represent the mount of Major Heinz Barr who was credited with 221 aerial victories. The restoration staff at the Tri-State Warbird Mu-seum will complete the assembly of the Fw-190 with first flights scheduled for 2008.
Focke-Wulf Fw-190 as it came out of the truck into our Museum on December 7, 2007
The Tri-State Warbird Museum is a 501(c)3 organization which is fully dependent on the support and generosity of it’s volunteers, visitors and contributors.
P-40 arrives! Page 2
Herb Heil-brun
Page 3 & 4
Gala May 16, 2008, Gerry Izzo
Page 4
Page 2
...and Welcome to the P-40
The Tri-State Warbird Museum P-40 just arrived from New Zealand
The P-40 was designed by Curtiss Aircraft of Buffalo, New York with the first prototype flying in 1939. At first considered obsolete and inferior in performance to many American WWII fighter aircraft the P-40 proved itself by providing outstanding combat service during the early stages of WWII. When produc-tion ceased in 1944 over 13,700 models of P-40 had been produced, many for foreign air forces includ-ing those of Britain, China, Australia, New Zealand and Russia. The P-40 played a critical role in air combat operations with Allied air forces in Africa, Eastern Europe, China, the Southwest Pacific, Italy, and Southeast Asia.
Perhaps the most famous P-40 combat operations occurred starting late in 1941 with the “Flying Ti-gers”, known officially as the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Flying from primitive bases in China the AVG successfully engaged superior Japanese fighters claiming a total of 297 Japanese aircraft de-stroyed with only 21 American losses.
The Tri-State Warbird Museum P-40M Kittyhawk saw service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) as NZ3119 and was flown by Geoff Fisken, RNZAF’s highest scoring pilot in WWII. Rescued from an aircraft scrap yard in the 1960’s by New Zealand native John Chambers, NZ3119 was structur-ally rebuilt by Allied Fighter Rebuilds in Auckland, New Zealand and delivered to the Tri-State Warbird Museum in February 2008. The restoration team at the Tri-State Warbird Museum will complete the res-toration of NZ3119 to flying condition.
About Herb Heilbrun...
There is a lot to know about Herb Heilbrun. First of all he is a great guy. Second he is actually pretty famous with a book written about him along with his good friend John Leahr: Black and White Airmen Their True History by John Fleischman published in 2007: it’s one of those amazing stories about the people and aircraft of World War II that is a must read.
We are very privileged to be able to share this previously unpublished poem with you. Herb wrote this poem during the war after his friend Roy Browne was shot down and did not sur-vive.
Photos and poem courtesy of Herb Heilbrun and may not be reproduced without permission.
My Buddy
© Herb Heilbrun
He was weary and tired and wanted to nod
So he put his hand in the Hand of God
Then out of the misty blue sky one day
A golden path opened to show him the way.
So our tired warrior folded his wings
Dreaming not of wars, but of beautiful things
He sleeps through eternity, nor wakes for the dawn
And he dreams with a smile, knowing we carry on.
His courage and the memory of what he has done
Stands out like a banner as bright as the sun
For he lived like a soldier and died like the same
And brave men will pause when they mention his name.
Know, oh tired warrior, that we shall not rest
But endlessly, endlessly go on our quest
To end the error, the heartache, the strife
For which, brave warrior, you gave your young life.
Page 3
John Leahr, Tuskegee Airmen P-51 fighter pilot and Herb Heilbrun, B-17 bomber pilot saw action together in World War II
Tri-State Warbird Museum 4021 Borman Drive Batavia, OH 45103
513.735.4500 513.735.4333 fax
www.tri-statewarbirdmuseum.org
Tri-State Warbird Museum
4021 Borman Drive
Batavia, Ohio 45103
513.735.4500
513.735.4333 fax
www.tri-statewarbirdmuseum.org
Hours:
Wednesday 4pm-7pm
Saturday 10am-3pm
Admission $12
Discounts available for veterans and students
Annual and lifetime individual and family memberships are available
Donations are needed and are most appreciated - Thank you!
Herb Heilbrun flying a B-17 September 1944 combat crew training in Pyote, Texas...and 63 years later in Sep-tember 2007 flying a B-17 in Bloomington, Indiana...that’s pretty cool...it is a privilege to bring these pictures and Herb’s poem to these pages...thank you Herb!
May 16, 2008 is the date for the Tri-State Warbird Museum Fourth Annual Gala, our major fundraising event, and we are looking forward to a wonderful evening of great airplanes and great people. The speaker this year is Gerry Izzo who was a member of the helicopter squadron portrayed in the book and movie “Black Hawk Down”. Gerry Izzo is a riveting speaker and his is a riveting story.